Narrowing Search - Dublin/Westerville/Worthington (Columbus: to rent, job market, wedding)

[Dave&Lauren]

There have been many posts on this subject, and everyone's opinion varies. My fiancee and I currently live in Phoenix, AZ, which neither of us enjoys, but we've been stuck with. We'll be getting married next March, and are planning to move to the Columbus area. The only dilemma is, neither of us really knows the area well.

We are both 23, mature, educated, but on a tight budget as tends to be the case at this age. We expect to be looking for a good area to rent first, and buy eventually. We actually do not have work lined up in advance, sadly - but we must move following the wedding, so we just need to figure out where and make things work. The job market is bad everywhere right now, so honestly, we're in about the same situation anywhere.

We're looking to narrow down where begin our search for a home, and hoping others may offer some advice. We want a safe, clean area (of course), hopefully with an easy commute to administrative & data-entry lines of work, with a decent school system for once we do eventually start a family, hopefully some family-friendly entertainment (movies, parks, shopping, etc.) within reasonable distance, and all this...in an affordable price range.

Dublin, I've read, is becoming more developed - almost a 'major' city itself, and somewhat disjointed by the rapid growth.

Westerville currently seems the best choice, with a small-town feel but easy commute, but I've seen a number of people talk about how it borders some less savory areas, and may not be a good option.

Worthington we really don't know much about, other than it's situated directly between the two, and I've seen many compliments on their school system.

Most likely, we will look at all three areas - but that's a lot of ground to cover. Any suggestions or ideas what may be a good launching point for us? Thanks in advance.